This book illuminates the connections and interaction among women and between women and men during the medieval period. To do this, Kathryn L. Reyerson focuses specifically on the experiences of Agnes de Bossones, widow of a changer of the mercantile elite of Montpellier. Agnes was a real estate mogul and a patron of philanthropic institutions that permitted lower strata women to survive and thrive in a mature urban economy of the period before 1350. Notably, Montpellier was a large urban center in southern France. Linkages stretched horizontally and vertically in this robust urban environment, mitigating the restrictions of patriarchy and the constraints of gender. Using the story of Agnes de Bossones as a vehicle to larger discussions about gender, this book highlights the undeniable impact that networks had on women's mobility and navigation within a restrictive medieval society.

This book synthesizes three fields of inquiry on the cutting edge of scholarship in medieval studies and world history: the history of medieval Sicily; the history of maritime violence, often named as piracy; and digital humanities. By merging these seemingly disparate strands in the scholarship of world history and medieval studies into a single volume, this book offers new insights into the history of medieval Sicily and the study of maritime violence. As several of the essays in this volume demonstrate, maritime violence fundamentally shaped experience in the medieval Mediterranean, as every ship that sailed, even those launched for commerce or travel, anticipated the possibility of encountering pirates, or dabbling in piracy themselves.

The first full length volume to approach the premodern Mediterranean from a fully interdisciplinary perspective, this collection defines the Mediterranean as a coherent region with distinct patterns of social, political, and cultural exchange. The essays explore the production, modification, and circulation of identities based on religion, ethnicity, profession, gender, and status as free or slave within three distinctive Mediterranean geographies: islands, entrepots and empires. Individual essays explore such topics as interreligious conflict and accommodation; immigration and diaspora; polylingualism; classical imitation and canon formation; traffic in sacred objects; Mediterranean slavery; and the dream of a reintegrated Roman empire. Integrating environmental, social, political, religious, literary, artistic, and linguistic concerns, this collection offers a new model for approaching a distinct geographical region as a unique site of cultural and social exchange.

The first full length volume to approach the premodern Mediterranean from a fully interdisciplinary perspective, this collection defines the Mediterranean as a coherent region with distinct patterns of social, political, and cultural exchange. The essays explore the production, modification, and circulation of identities based on religion, ethnicity, profession, gender, and status as free or slave within three distinctive Mediterranean geographies: islands, entrepots and empires. Individual essays explore such topics as interreligious conflict and accommodation; immigration and diaspora; polylingualism; classical imitation and canon formation; traffic in sacred objects; Mediterranean slavery; and the dream of a reintegrated Roman empire. Integrating environmental, social, political, religious, literary, artistic, and linguistic concerns, this collection offers a new model for approaching a distinct geographical region as a unique site of cultural and social exchange.

This volume presents a series of studies by Jacqueline Caille, acknowledged as the leading expert on medieval Narbonne, which chart the development and history of the city from its Roman origins to its decline in the late Middle Ages. They focus on the period of Narbonne's heyday, from the mid-11th to the mid-14th centuries, and a central place is held by Ermengarde, viscountess for half the 12th century, and celebrated figure in the 'world of the troubadours'. The book opens with an important new introductory survey, in English, setting the context for the detailed studies which follow, several of which also appear in English for the first time, and all being updated with additional notes. These articles cover the physical growth of the great medieval centre, the relations and conflicts between its secular and ecclesiastical lords, its administrative and religious life, and its political and commercial connections with the areas around. Ce volume regroupe une serie d'etudes de Jacqueline Caille, specialiste reconnue de l'histoire de Narbonne au Moyen Age. L'antique cite y est presentee depuis ses origines romaines jusqu'A la fin du XVe siecle, en insistant particulierement sur la periode la plus brillante des siecles medievaux, du milieu du XIe au milieu du XIVe siecle. Le recueil s'ouvre par un "long survol historique" inedit, en anglais, brossant le contexte general oA(1) s'inserent les etudes specialisees qui suivent, reactualisees par des notes additionnelles. Les principaux themes pouvant Atre degages des ces articles concernent le developpement topographique de cette "grande ville medievale", les relations et les conflits entre les seigneurs qui la dirigent (archevAques et vicomtes), la vie administrative et religieuse de l'agglomeration ainsi que ses relations politiques et commerciales avec les regions environnantes. Enfin, une place de choix est faite A l'une des eminentes figures du "monde des troubadours", la victomtesse

This book illuminates the connections and interaction among women and between women and men during the medieval period. To do this, Kathryn L. Reyerson focuses specifically on the experiences of Agnes de Bossones, widow of a changer of the mercantile elite of Montpellier. Agnes was a real estate mogul and a patron of philanthropic institutions that permitted lower strata women to survive and thrive in a mature urban economy of the period before 1350. Notably, Montpellier was a large urban center in southern France. Linkages stretched horizontally and vertically in this robust urban environment, mitigating the restrictions of patriarchy and the constraints of gender. Using the story of Agnes de Bossones as a vehicle to larger discussions about gender, this book highlights the undeniable impact that networks had on women's mobility and navigation within a restrictive medieval society.

In the late 1320s, Martha de Cabanis was widowed with three young sons, eleven, eight, and four years of age. Her challenges would be many: to raise and train her children to carry on their father's business; to preserve that business until they were ready to take over; and to look after her own financial well-being. Examining the visible trail Martha left in Montpellier's notarial registers and other records, Kathryn L. Reyerson reveals a wealth of information about her activities, particularly in the area of business, commerce, and real estate. From these formal, contractual documents, Reyerson gleans something of Martha's personality and reconstructs what she may have done, and a good deal of what she actually did, in her various roles of daughter, wife, mother, and widow. Mother and Sons, Inc. demonstrates that while women were hardly equal to men in the fourteenth century, under the right conditions afforded by wealth and the status of widowhood, they could do and did more than many have thought. Within the space of twenty years, Martha developed a complex real estate fortune, enlarged a cloth manufacturing business and trading venture, and provided for the support and education of her sons. Just how the widow Martha maneuvered within the legal constraints of her social, economic, and personal status forms the heart of the book's investigation. Situating Martha's story within the context of Montpellier and medieval Europe more broadly, Reyerson's microhistorical approach illuminates the opportunities and the limits of what was possible for elite mercantile women in the urban setting in which Martha lived.

"The Medieval Castle "was first published in 1991. Minnesota Archive Editions uses digital technology to make long-unavailable books once again accessible, and are published unaltered from the original University of Minnesota Press editions.

"The Medieval Mediterranean " was first published in 1991. Minnesota Archive Editions uses digital technology to make long-unavailable books once again accessible, and are published unaltered from the original University of Minnesota Press editions.

"Three faiths--Jewish, Christian, and Muslim--became the dominant religions of western civilization in the course of the Middle Ages. Within each, there is and was great cultural and ethnic diversity. The complex relationships today among Jews, Christians, and Muslims in the Mediterranean, the tensions and attempts at resolution of conflicts among these groups, have their roots in the Middle Ages."

Contributors: Oleg Grabar, "The Meaning of the Dome of the Rock; " Oliver Nicholson, "Golden Age and the End of the World: Myths of Mediterranean Life from Lactantius to Joshua the Stylite; "Ivan Havener, OSB, "Two Early Anecdotes Concerning Gregory the Great from the Greek Tradition; "Catherine B. Asher, "The Public Baths of Medieval Spain: An Architectural Study; " Jonathan M. Bloom, "The Revival of Early Islamic Architecture by the Umayyads of Spain; " Marvin Mills, "Scenario for a Roman Provenance for the Mosque of Cordoba; "Sybil H. Mintz, "The Carpet Pages of the Spanish-Hebrew Farhi Bible; "Ann Thorson Walton, "The Three Hebrew Children in the Fiery Furnace: A Study of Christian Iconography; " W. Eugene Kleinbauer, "Pre-Carolingian Concepts of Architectural Planning; "Clara Estow, "Iberia and North Africa: A Comparative View of Religious and Sexual Discrimination in a Medieval Plural Society; " Moshe Sokolow, "Arabic Books in Jewish Libraries: The Evidence of Genizah Booklist; " Leslie S. B. MacCoull, "Coptic Alchemy and Craft Technology in Islamic Egypt: The Papyrological Evidence; " Thomas S. Noonan, "Technology Transfer Between Byzantium and Eastern Europe: A Case Study of the Glass Industry in Early Russia; "Stephanie Cain Van D'Elden, "Black and White: Contact with the Mediterranean World in Medieval German Narrative; " Gerhard Weiss, "The Pilgrim as Tourist: Travels to the Holy Land as Reflected in the Published Accounts of German Pilgrims Between 1450 and 1550"

This volume presents a series of studies by Jacqueline Caille, acknowledged as the leading expert on medieval Narbonne, which chart the development and history of the city from its Roman origins to its decline in the late Middle Ages. They focus on the period of Narbonne's heyday, from the mid-11th to the mid-14th centuries, and a central place is held by Ermengarde, viscountess for half the 12th century, and celebrated figure in the 'world of the troubadours'. The book opens with an important new introductory survey, in English, setting the context for the detailed studies which follow, several of which also appear in English for the first time, and all being updated with additional notes. These articles cover the physical growth of the great medieval centre, the relations and conflicts between its secular and ecclesiastical lords, its administrative and religious life, and its political and commercial connections with the areas around. Ce volume regroupe une serie d'etudes de Jacqueline Caille, specialiste reconnue de l'histoire de Narbonne au Moyen Age. L'antique cite y est presentee depuis ses origines romaines jusqu'A la fin du XVe siecle, en insistant particulierement sur la periode la plus brillante des siecles medievaux, du milieu du XIe au milieu du XIVe siecle. Le recueil s'ouvre par un "long survol historique" inedit, en anglais, brossant le contexte general oA(1) s'inserent les etudes specialisees qui suivent, reactualisees par des notes additionnelles. Les principaux themes pouvant Atre degages des ces articles concernent le developpement topographique de cette "grande ville medievale", les relations et les conflits entre les seigneurs qui la dirigent (archevAques et vicomtes), la vie administrative et religieuse de l'agglomeration ainsi que ses relations politiques et commerciales avec les regions environnantes. Enfin, une place de choix est faite A l'une des eminentes figures du "monde des troubadours", la victomtesse